Greater Shepparton City Council is building two e-waste sheds at its resource recovery centres in Shepparton and Ardmona, thanks to a $200 000 Sustainability Victoria grant.
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Council director infrastructure Phil Hoare said the e-waste sheds would give the centres more capacity to receive and store different types of e-waste and improve overall operations.
“The framework was completed, with the walls and roofing expected to be completed by end of February,” he said.
E-waste is any item with a plug, battery or cord that is no longer working or wanted; it covers a range of items from phones and refrigerators to fluorescent light tubes.
Council relies on third party organisations to carefully disassemble e-waste products, where the raw materials from the products are processed and repurposed.
A statewide, mandatory landfill e-waste ban was introduced in July 2019, as e-waste products contain potentially hazardous materials that do not belong in landfill.
Mr Hoare said before the sheds were built, council already ensured all recyclable waste products were being recycled, including e-waste products.
“Council has a very strong and effective waste management system in place,” he said.
“Our main priority is to promote waste avoidance, which has been identified as the number one item in the state waste management hierarchy.”
Mr Hoare said the e-waste landfill ban had increased costs to council.
“The cost to residents when disposing of these items contributes to the disposal costs incurred by council.”
Mr Hoare said creating the e-waste shed would not remove Council’s reliance on third parties, meaning resource recovery centres would continue to run at a financial loss.
“These organisations have specialised processing facilities for the items collected at the RRCs,” he said.
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